Where did you find your love for photography?

Im just wondering where did everyone find their love for photography?
I have recently bought a nikon d5000 and haven't really used it one being due to time. I work till 9/10 each night and by the time I finish I just want to go home.
I want to get into photography but feel embarrassed going out on my own taking pictures so looking or inspiration/motivation to go out and do it rather than having a expensive paper weight.
So how did you get into photography?

Im just wondering where did everyone find their love for photography?

I have recently bought a nikon d5000 and haven't really used it one being due to time. I work till 9/10 each night and by the time I finish I just want to go home.

I want to get into photography but feel embarrassed going out on my own taking pictures so looking or inspiration/motivation to go out and do it rather than having a expensive paper weight.

I was very fortunate in my very young years in that I saw things which were (to me) unique and that I knew that a camera could capture those 'moments' for me for the rest of my life.
It all started with a Kodak 'Box Brownie 127' which my maternal Grandmother would lend me... then there was a large gap until the RAF sent me to Singapore in 1965 - and I bought a Yashica 635 ([i]with[/i] 35mm attachment ;-))...
...and I found 'Utopia'
Then the 'Digital Age' arrived - and I had to start all over again!!! :D

I was very fortunate in my very young years in that I saw things which were (to me) unique and that I knew that a camera could capture those 'moments' for me for the rest of my life.

It all started with a Kodak 'Box Brownie 127' which my maternal Grandmother would lend me... then there was a large gap until the RAF sent me to Singapore in 1965 - and I bought a Yashica 635 (with 35mm attachment )...

I had to use photography as a tool in my work in my early days so it was about as exciting as using a tape-measure or micrometer.
Once I retired I got the urge to try photography again and in the last 6 or 7 years its become an obsession. Two main reasons for that - I love the way it lets me freeze moments or events in time seeing things that just passed me by "BC" (before camera :) ) and secondly I have developed a passion for print making so my photographic images provide the raw materials for that (that's print making using my HP 9180 + fine art papers, not lithography or other more esoteric methods)
I can't enjoyment ever fading as there is always so much more to learn and try

I had to use photography as a tool in my work in my early days so it was about as exciting as using a tape-measure or micrometer.

Once I retired I got the urge to try photography again and in the last 6 or 7 years its become an obsession. Two main reasons for that - I love the way it lets me freeze moments or events in time seeing things that just passed me by "BC" (before camera ) and secondly I have developed a passion for print making so my photographic images provide the raw materials for that (that's print making using my HP 9180 + fine art papers, not lithography or other more esoteric methods)

I can't enjoyment ever fading as there is always so much more to learn and try

Would love to be able to paint and draw, but I can't. I can use a camera so I'm hooked most of the time but do have times when I feel I can't get the shots I want, that soon changes though. Think it's more down to my mood than anything else.

Would love to be able to paint and draw, but I can't. I can use a camera so I'm hooked most of the time but do have times when I feel I can't get the shots I want, that soon changes though. Think it's more down to my mood than anything else.

[quote]I want to get into photography but feel embarrassed going out on my own taking pictures so looking or inspiration/motivation to go out and do it rather than having a expensive paper weight.[/quote]
For most the focus on photography is the camera, when they first start. The Camera though is merely a means to an end, much in the same way as an artist would use a paintbrush to paint. Yes, you need to develop skills in how you use the equipment, but it is what you wish to portray that is most important. Learn to develop an creative eye, so that you can see the image in mind before you lift the camera to your eye. So the real question is what do you want to say with your pictures.
Remember also, there is a difference between taking "snaps" and taking "photographs".

Quote:I want to get into photography but feel embarrassed going out on my own taking pictures so looking or inspiration/motivation to go out and do it rather than having a expensive paper weight.

For most the focus on photography is the camera, when they first start. The Camera though is merely a means to an end, much in the same way as an artist would use a paintbrush to paint. Yes, you need to develop skills in how you use the equipment, but it is what you wish to portray that is most important. Learn to develop an creative eye, so that you can see the image in mind before you lift the camera to your eye. So the real question is what do you want to say with your pictures.

Remember also, there is a difference between taking "snaps" and taking "photographs".

"Where did you find your love for photography"
I saw humour or beauty or just the plain unusual in various moments of life and wanted to capture and share these occurrences from my teenage years to the current time; To display that look/feature or scene as the best it can be for both me & others to appreciate over longer periods of time.
In my own way I appreciate the art of most of what Iíve not seen before and does not look mass produced.

"Where did you find your love for photography"
I saw humour or beauty or just the plain unusual in various moments of life and wanted to capture and share these occurrences from my teenage years to the current time; To display that look/feature or scene as the best it can be for both me & others to appreciate over longer periods of time.
In my own way I appreciate the art of most of what Iíve not seen before and does not look mass produced.

[quote]I want to get into photography but feel embarrassed going out on my own taking pictures so looking or inspiration/motivation to go out and do it rather than having a expensive paper weight.[/quote]
First thing is not feel that way - remember, photography is the new rock and roll. The advent of digital and photoshop means it's suddenly cool again.
I found my love for photography at the end of a paycheque.
;)
jus kiddin'...I inherited it.

Quote:I want to get into photography but feel embarrassed going out on my own taking pictures so looking or inspiration/motivation to go out and do it rather than having a expensive paper weight.

First thing is not feel that way - remember, photography is the new rock and roll. The advent of digital and photoshop means it's suddenly cool again.

I want to get into photography but feel embarrassed going out on my own taking pictures so looking or inspiration/motivation to go out and do it rather than having a expensive paper weight.
[/quote]
Set yourself a project. In my experience worthwhile pictures are seldom obtained just wandering round aimlessly.
I started with a YashicaMat twin lens reflex, back in the days of black & white. This was a good discipline because the larger 6x6 medium format screen slowed you down, making you compose a picture properly and think about what you were doing, remembering you had just 12 exposures on a roll of 120 film

I want to get into photography but feel embarrassed going out on my own taking pictures so looking or inspiration/motivation to go out and do it rather than having a expensive paper weight.

Set yourself a project. In my experience worthwhile pictures are seldom obtained just wandering round aimlessly.

I started with a YashicaMat twin lens reflex, back in the days of black & white. This was a good discipline because the larger 6x6 medium format screen slowed you down, making you compose a picture properly and think about what you were doing, remembering you had just 12 exposures on a roll of 120 film

When I was about 10, an uncle who had a chemist's shop gave me a film developing tank, a printing frame and a set of tin forceps for my Christmas. That was in the days when chemist's shops were the only place you could buy cameras, films and chemicals.
Then, when I was 14, I sold my electric train set and the same uncle got me trade discount on a TLR camera and an enlarger. That was really the start of serious photography.
Then there was a bit of a hiatus during the "sex, drugs and rock'n'roll" years (the drugs being nothing more exciting than tobacco and beer) and then, in the early 70s I started doing some freelance writing. In those days, long before online "image libraries", it was much easier to get magazine articles published if you also supplied the photographs to illustrate them. So it was into 35mm for black and white prints and 6x7 for colour trannies.
The next hiatus came in the early 90s when my wife decided she wanted my darkroom for a kitchen extension. We had a bit of a discussion about it but, as I quite liked sex, she got her way.
Didn't really get back into photography in any meaningful way until digital cameras came of age and allowed me to re-enter the craft without needing a darkroom. I guess the big difference is that, rather than seeing photography in a utilitarian way, as in the past, I now have the luxury of regarding it as an art form where I can strive to push back boundaries in terms of my own "view" of the world around me.
I have to say that being retired and now only being active in two or three sports, I do have the time to explore photography as an art (or maybe art/science combination) in a way that I never had when I was working. That helps a lot.

When I was about 10, an uncle who had a chemist's shop gave me a film developing tank, a printing frame and a set of tin forceps for my Christmas. That was in the days when chemist's shops were the only place you could buy cameras, films and chemicals.

Then, when I was 14, I sold my electric train set and the same uncle got me trade discount on a TLR camera and an enlarger. That was really the start of serious photography.

Then there was a bit of a hiatus during the "sex, drugs and rock'n'roll" years (the drugs being nothing more exciting than tobacco and beer) and then, in the early 70s I started doing some freelance writing. In those days, long before online "image libraries", it was much easier to get magazine articles published if you also supplied the photographs to illustrate them. So it was into 35mm for black and white prints and 6x7 for colour trannies.

The next hiatus came in the early 90s when my wife decided she wanted my darkroom for a kitchen extension. We had a bit of a discussion about it but, as I quite liked sex, she got her way.

Didn't really get back into photography in any meaningful way until digital cameras came of age and allowed me to re-enter the craft without needing a darkroom. I guess the big difference is that, rather than seeing photography in a utilitarian way, as in the past, I now have the luxury of regarding it as an art form where I can strive to push back boundaries in terms of my own "view" of the world around me.

I have to say that being retired and now only being active in two or three sports, I do have the time to explore photography as an art (or maybe art/science combination) in a way that I never had when I was working. That helps a lot.

My Step Dad always had a camera when I was young & I guess I got the habit from him. I also love art and paintings, but am completely useless at painting & drawing, so stick to collecting & photography gives me an outlet. I started off with an old brownie & gradually built up to an SLR and now am fully digital.
Never worry about being out with a camera. I've been taking photography more seriously now for about 5/6 years and my husband says I am now far, far more confident and outgoing than I used to be, which is brilliant.

My Step Dad always had a camera when I was young & I guess I got the habit from him. I also love art and paintings, but am completely useless at painting & drawing, so stick to collecting & photography gives me an outlet. I started off with an old brownie & gradually built up to an SLR and now am fully digital.
Never worry about being out with a camera. I've been taking photography more seriously now for about 5/6 years and my husband says I am now far, far more confident and outgoing than I used to be, which is brilliant.

As a kid my nearest neighbour was an oldish man who told us the most amazing war stories. He was a reccie photographer in the RAF and was probably my earliest introduction to the delights of photographs taken properly. The first time I was amazed by a photograph was one he had of the Mohne dam after it was breached , I had just watched Dambusters the week before.

As a kid my nearest neighbour was an oldish man who told us the most amazing war stories. He was a reccie photographer in the RAF and was probably my earliest introduction to the delights of photographs taken properly. The first time I was amazed by a photograph was one he had of the Mohne dam after it was breached , I had just watched Dambusters the week before.

I had a mate at school (about 35 years ago) who brought some black & white pictures in one day of Snoopy. I wanted some and ask him how they were done. He said he'd used a Yashica TL Electro SLR on a tripod. I hadn't got a clue what a tripod was...but knew my brother had a camera so I asked him if it was an SLR and it was...a Pentax Spotmatic. The following day, after school, I called in the local chemist and bought a roll of Ilford FP4 and that night I stuck the camera on a wooden sewing box and took pictures of Snoopy off the TV making sure I set the shutter to 1/15sec.
One of my first attempts
[epzimg]snoopy.jpg[/epzimg]
Soon after I photographed David Bowie off TV and over the coming months started to take the camera outside and take pics of local scenes. I bought a copy of Practical Photography magazine (I still have that copy) and borrowed a John Hedgecoe book from the library and it all quickly spiralled out of control.

I had a mate at school (about 35 years ago) who brought some black & white pictures in one day of Snoopy. I wanted some and ask him how they were done. He said he'd used a Yashica TL Electro SLR on a tripod. I hadn't got a clue what a tripod was...but knew my brother had a camera so I asked him if it was an SLR and it was...a Pentax Spotmatic. The following day, after school, I called in the local chemist and bought a roll of Ilford FP4 and that night I stuck the camera on a wooden sewing box and took pictures of Snoopy off the TV making sure I set the shutter to 1/15sec.

One of my first attempts

Soon after I photographed David Bowie off TV and over the coming months started to take the camera outside and take pics of local scenes. I bought a copy of Practical Photography magazine (I still have that copy) and borrowed a John Hedgecoe book from the library and it all quickly spiralled out of control.